Legendary kickboxing promotion K-1 has announced a new date for their K-1 World MAX Final event in Pattaya, Thailand. Originally scheduled for July, K-1 ran into issues due to the recent political coup in Thailand. Part of the issue was being a foreign promoter looking to enter into a climate that is not usually friendly to outside promoters during a period of turmoil and so many internal changes. K-1 has worked with the local Thai government to acquire the proper licensing and the K-1 World MAX Finals will happen on October 4th, 2014 in Pattaya, Thailand.

The event will feature the K-1 World MAX Finals, crowning a new champion in their 70kg MAX division between Buakaw Banchamek and Enriko Kehl.

The recent announcement of Yokkao's latest training center has stirred up some excitement among fans who have been wondering when and where to expect other official Yokkao training centers across the globe. According to Yokkao they plan to continue pushing out into the world with official training centers, having opened one after Yokkao 9 in Kunshan, China. Their next official training centers are planned for this year, opening up in Bangkok as well as in Bahrain. Both are scheduled to be opened up in August of this year, with Yokkao providing more information on them shortly.

Yokkao also has a strong lineup of affiliate gyms, including the legendary 13 Coins Gym, Sityodtong in Pattaya, SRG Thai Boxing Gym in Sydney, Muay Thai Combat Gym in San Marino and Bad Company in Leeds.

I want to preface this by saying that without a doubt the sport of Kickboxing owes a lot to its European roots. Without some of the pioneers in Europe the sport of Kickboxing would absolutely not be what it is today. That being said, I feel like after GLORY 17 and Last Man Standing we can effectively say that Kickboxing belongs to no one country or continent. Sure, some of the all-time greats are Dutch and yes, the original home of K-1 was without a doubt Japan, but it’s 2014 and the world has become a smaller place. Talent is no longer concentrated to secretive gyms or trainers, instead it is being spread out and being found across the world.

For the longest time fans had to hear that American Kickboxers sucked. The history that came with American Kickboxing, the fighters like Benny Urquidez, Don Wilson, Rick Roufus and the many other who cut their teeth across the world against the best of the best was somewhat washed aside. I mean, why not? Names like Rob Kamen, Ramon Dekkers and Cor Hemmers carry a lot of weight with them, as do the names of fighters like Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Semmy Schilt and many others. How could American fighters compare?

At GLORY 17 and Last Man Standing North America got to show the world just how seriously Kickboxers from this continent need to be taken and should leave fans open to talent from other nations as well. Joe Schilling once again found himself in a tough finals against Artem Levin, this time Levin walking away victorious, with North American fighters Wayne Barrett and Simon Marcus having incredibly strong showings as well. Joseph Valtellini showed the world what a kid from Canada can do when given a chance, bringing home the GLORY Welterweight Championship in a tough fight against Marc de Bonte. Then on GLORY 17 Canadian Gabriel Varga proved himself to be one of the best Featherweights in the world, ready to take on the best of the best and vye for the GLORY Featherweight Championship.

At this point it’s hard to argue that America and Canada aren’t producing top talents, because both nations are producing some of the very best that the world has to offer. Is Europe still producing some of the absolute best talents in the world in Kickboxing? Absolutely. It’s impossible to argue against the talents we are seeing coming from the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany and many others, but it’s no longer a monopoly. For a while Dutch Kickboxing was the alpha and omega and while Dutch Kickboxing is still very strong, it would be crass to ignore the talents coming from all across the world to prove themselves as the best of the best.

Kickboxing is a global sport and the name on the gym or the prestige of the nation are no longer deciding factors alone. The amount of work put in, the quality of the training, the talent and the desire are what matter at the end of the day. I, for one, look forward to continue to watch fighters from all corners of the world stepping up their game on a regular basis.